A Treasury of ABC Self-Help Words that Give Encouragement and Support to the Caregiver

Prologue

FOR HER

This is not a technical book. If your loved one has Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Heart Failure, Diabetes, Cerebral Palsy, or has had depression, a stroke, spinal injuries or any number of other debilitating catastrophic illnesses, there are many books in the library that describe all the problems, treatments, and prognosis of each of these conditions. Doctors and scholars who have specialized write these books. There is valuable information to be found in these accounts and you should avail yourself of the ones pertaining to the particular problems of your loved one.

This is a book that is devoted to the caregivers of those who have the catastrophic illnesses. My twenty years of experience as a caregiver have given me many insights into coping with and surviving the problems of caring for an ill person. This book gives encouragement along with valuable information learned the hard way, by trial and error! It is my hope that it will ease the way for caregivers going through this most difficult transition.

I am a very private person. Some things I find it essential to discuss in this book will be difficult for me; they will invade the privacy of my life and that of the loved one I am caring for. The importance of conveying, in open discussion, all the ramifications of surviving in the caregiver's world outweigh my privilege of privacy.

Each individual's circumstances are unique; some of the things I have written about may not be relevant to your particular situation. But the book is very supportive in many different areas of any caregiver's life. My information comes from the living experiences of dealing day by day with another person, whom I deeply love, which is totally dependent on me. A lot of my thoughts come from the heart; openly, honestly and sincerely. I pray that the reader will find help, comfort and solace in my words and in the knowledge that others share the struggle, pain and even anger. We all deserve to survive the ordeal!

Doctors who write the technical books sympathize with your circumstances and say they understand, but the only one who can really relate to what the caregiver's life is like, day in and day out, is another person walking in a pair of caregiver's shoes.

Come; join me now, for a walk through an alphabet of words, which will go a long way in helping you survive as a caregiver.